Jay Harvey Upstage

Years ago one of the alternative tabloids that flourished briefly here published an interview with the Osmo Vänskä has the vision and the vehicle. Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra's new music director in which he delivered a dismissive assessment of Gustav Mahler's music.  I wish I'd saved it, because Raymond Leppard summed up the personal mood swings embedded in Mahler's works somewhat in this manner: "Oh, I'm glorious and blessed by God; Oh, I'm such a  sh*t!" My attempted paraphrase becomes an exact quote in the second phrase, as I was shocked that a symphony music director would express his disdain in such vulgar terms. But the Leppard dislike took hold, and I believe the only Mahler that Leppard programmed as music director (1987-2001) was the gentle, heaven-focused Symphony No. 4, which never visits the outhouse. Despite the permanent vogue Mahler now enjoys, there has long been a history of rejection, or at least resistance, among some professio

Center stage are Gabrielle Cavassa and Joshua Redman, with support from bassist Philip Norris and (barely visible) pianist Paul Cornish and drummer Nazir Ebo. You're free to supply the punctuation in the title of the album Joshua Redman is touring behind, because there's no question where he is. He's centered in a format in which a vocalist is fully a member of the band, and she's the mesmerizing Gabrielle Cavassa . "Where Are We" tracks, interpreted live, formed the basis of the saxophonist's two-night stand at the Jazz Kitchen this weekend. Hearing the first set Saturday night, it was evident Redman wanted to give himself lots of territory for sheer blowing, but he also was emphasizing his collaboration chops. His discography is rich in a tendency to share the spotlight as a bandleader, but this is his first undertaking  including a vocalist in the front line. And there are plenty of places to be celebrated in song from the early 20th century into the pr

Mark Cudek's range as artistic director of the Indianapolis Early Music Festival is especially impressive as the current festival prepares to pause for a holiday break before ending the weekend of July 12 and 13.  On Friday, June 28, the festival moved into its accustomed home at the Indiana History Center for a program presented by The Bach and Beethoven Experience, whose artistic director put together a program based on her own family experience rooted in the Chickasaw tribe, one of Five Civilized Nations forced to move from their original homelands to unsettled land west of the Mississippi. Creator and arranger of the program, Brandi Berry Benson is a violinist who appeared onstage heading six musicians, two others of whom have tribal affiliations. One was percussionist Michaela Marchi (Isleta Pueblo), whose playing idiomatically supported the instrumental ensemble of strings and flute.  The other was  Rachael Youngman , whose tribal affiliation is Chickasaw. She filled a k

Re M ȁrkable results in Beethoven He knew everybody was eager for the Beethoven Fifth, so  Jun M ȁrkl  kept his post-intermission remarks from the podium concise. The Japanese-German conductor, who becomes the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra 's music director in September, first had some thanks to offer.  He praised the orchestra's members in both musical and personal terms. He wrapped up with compliments to the audience, making the obvious but necessary point that the best the ISO has to offer comes out only when there are people in the Hilbert Circle Theatre seats. And there were plenty of them Friday night, as the 2023-24 Classical Series drew to a close. The program of works by Beethoven, George Gershwin, and British composer Hannah Kendall will be repeated at 5:30 this afternoon.  A wise senior music critic once told me and a gaggle of newspaper newbies something designed to check any loftiness we might be cultivating when we write about major repertoire: "Remember th

Conrad Herwig , an adept veteran trombonist, has made a specialty of small-group arrangements of jazz masters in Latin-jazz stylings . "The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner" (Savant) is a fine continuation of the series, especially given that as a composer Tyner (1938-2020) created sturdy pieces with lots of momentum as well as heart. Conrad Herwig has made Latinizing jazz classics a specialty. Tyner's heavily accented piano style isn't obsesssively expanded to the septet Herwig heads here. The arrangements welcome the occasionally laidback nature of Latin-American music. But the impressiveness of Tyner's approach is effectively translated to a band that depends on the animated verve of Camilo Molina's conga drums.  The traditional three-man rhythm section fits indelibly into that vibe, with a guest appearance on "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit," by Latin-jazz piano maestro Eddie Palmieri. Much of the credit for the rhythm section's solidity goes to pianist B

There is no final chapter in addiction stories, "Spay" teaches us. When physiology and psychology join arms and march ahead through vulnerable lives, the forces of reason, morality, and love faint and pull their flags out of any ground in which they have tentatively planted stakes. "Spay" opened this weekend in an American Lives Theatre production on Phoenix Theatre 's Basile stage. The last line (from offstage) in this expansive, troubling one-act drama by Madison Fiedler is succeeded by a final blackout. On Saturday night, the audience seemed a bit startled into silence until the lights came back up on a curtain-call-arranged cast. I think the playwright, as well Jen Johansen, making her directorial debut, were hinting "That's it!" as well as 'No, this is not it!" It's conventional by now that many modern plays avoid clearcut resolution. In the case of "Spay," the central problem of substance abuse bakes in the need to for